Mounted Games are a series of very fast races, exciting for participants and spectators alike, performed by people on ponies. They require a high degree of athletic ability, good riding skills, hand-to-eye coordination, general determination to see things through to the end no, matter what, and a competitive spirit which nevertheless requires an ability to work together with other riders and to be willing to help one another.
The Mounted Games community is a large family! As such, there is healthy good-natured rivalry on the field, but great cooperation between players off the field regarding matters of the games as well as those of personal relationships and logistics.
Mounted Games were the inspiration of H.R.H. Prince Philip. When Col. Sir Mike Ansell was Director of the Horse of the Year Show, the Prince asked if he could devise a competition for children who could not afford an expensive, well-bred pony, and the 1957 the Horse of the Year Show, staged the first Mounted Games Championship for the Prince Philip Cup – it was an immediate success.